4 rebel officers desert from SPLM-N al-Hilu: official statement

August 11, 2018

August 10, 2018 (KHARTOUM) – The Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North led by Abdel Aziz al-Hilu said four of its officers have deserted the group and dismissed any link between the fugitives and the death of another one it said he committed suicide.

SPLM-N Hilu Secretary areas under government control Amar Amon Daldoum admitted in a statement extended to Sudan Tribune on Friday that four officers including Brigadier – Ismail Ahmed Abdallah, Major – Ahmed Abbas Bakheet, Captain – Abdel Rahman Daldom Chalo have fled from the rebel-controlled areas in South Kordofan to the” areas under government control”.

“The leadership ordered them to report to the headquarters to find out why they left their jobs and stayed in their homes for a long time,” said Daldoum adding they decided to escape the rebel areas after being asked several times.

The defection of the four rebels comes as heated debated are taking place in the social media among the group supporters about the “targeting” of SPLM-N militants from the western area of the Nuba Mountains.

Al-Hilu’s detractors further accuse him of killing a rebel commander Abboud Karib Ismail who committed suicide while was in jail recently. They say how he can suicide by his arm while he was confined in prison.

But the secretary general praised the “outstanding achievements” of Colonel Karib and asserted that he was in custody pending investigation when he used his weapon to commit suicide.

In October 2017, al-Hilu was elected as the chairman of the group after a six-month rift within the SPLM-N. As a result, now there are two factions one led by Abdel Aziz al-Hilu and another led by Malik Agar.

Al-Hilu who controls the Nuba Mountains and parts of the rebel areas in the Blue Nile state rejects to acknowledge the other faction.

He recently operated a series of administrative reforms in the group in order to put an end to the “era non-institutionalization and lawlessness”.